The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for Peace on Tuesday. He was awarded the prestigious prize due to ‘his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea’.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a war between 1998 and 2000, which was then followed by continued tensions on the two countries’ borders. Eritrea had previously fought a war of independence against Ethiopia, with Eritrea being granted its freedom in 1991. However, tensions between the two remained, leading to bitter border conflict in 1998.
Although a peace treaty was signed in 2000 it was only fully implemented in 2018, leading to Ahmed being awarded the Peace Prize.
Eritrea is widely considered one of the most totalitarian countries in the world and is often called ‘Africa’s North Korea’. The People’s Front for Justice and Democracy is the only legal party in the country.
Ahmed, who became Prime Minister in April 2018 has also spearheaded other reforms in Ethiopia. These have included liberalising the economy, freeing political prisoners and scrapping a number of authoritarian laws which restricted political freedom.
Greta Thunberg, the teenage climate change activist had been considered a favourite for the prize.